Floating corner construction



Sept. 4,1951 G. w. ANDERSON FLoATINc. CORNER CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 23, 1944 INVENTOR. @afge Milian lnrffm BY Patented Sept. 4, 1951 2,565,649 FLOATNG CORNER CONSTRUCTION George William Anderson, `Port vvf isa'sfigtmn,V N. Y., assignor'to United States `Plywood Cor= poration, lNew York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 23, 1944, Serial No. 555,428

(Cl. RII-4.)

1 Claim. l

This invention relates to the construction of Wall panels and particularly to the corner panels.

Heretofore it has been found that the corners of panel Walls become marred or separated due to expansion and contraction by temperature changes. The paint is also sometimes injured so that the appearance of the walls becomes unsightly. Similar troubles arise when the panels shrink after being installed.

Attempts to remedy these defects have not been entirely satisfactory due to the increased expense and to the fact that devices installed to prevent such defects are visible at least in part and mar the appearance of the paneling.

With the present invention Wall paneling can be installed having either inside or outside corners, or both, in such a way that no cracks appear at the corners and no injury to the appearance of Walls at inside or outside corners takes place and no part of the devices for accomplishing this is visible to the occupants of the room.

In carrying out the invention contacting edges of the panels at corners are securely connected together by devices located entirely on the back side of the panels at the corners in such a wat7 that the adjacent edges are prevented from moving With respect to each other so that wall paper is not torn and no paint lines become visible. In this Way floating corners of the panel Wall are provided since they are not connected to the studding and are therefore free to move or float due to expansion and contraction of the panels. At the same time the panels cannot separate or move with respect to each other at the corners.

The invention may be understood from the description in connection With the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side View partly in section showing an illustrated embodiment of the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective views on an enlarged scale showing some of the details;

Fig. 4 is a section through line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In the drawings, reference characters I and 2 indicate inside corner studding, and reference characters 3 and 4 indicate side studding resting on sills 5 and 6. Furring strips 1 and 8 are applied along the inner edges of the studding 3 and 4.

The inside edges of the sills 5 and 6 are scarfed, as indicated at 9 and IIIl from near the corner for some distance therefrom. A distance of about to 20 inches is usually sufficient. This scarflng is suliciently deep to compensate for expansion and contraction of the paneling.

Panels II and IZ'm'eet atan inside vcorner of a room near the studding I and 2.

Wood strips I5 and I6, such as r plywood, for example, are glued to the paneling II and I2, respectively, near their edges with the panel II overlapping the edge of the panel I2 so that the edge of the strip I5 overlaps the edge of the paneling I2 and lies against the outside of the paneling II while the strip I6 lies against the outer side of the paneling I2 and the edge of paneling II.

The strips I5 and I6 are securely attached to the paneling II and I2, respectively, such as by gluing the same thereto. Before these strips I5 and IS are glued to the paneling II and I2, they are provided with interlocking catches or holding members I'I and I8, for example, Figs. 3 and 4. Screws I9 and 20 hold these catches securely in slots that are provided across the strips I5 and IE5 to receive them. Also, the ends 2l and 22 of these catches are preferably bent at right angles to lie flat against the edges of the strips I5 and I6. A number of such catches are attached to each strip I5 or I6 and the catches are all alike. The slots 23 and 24 in Which the catches I1 andA I8 are placed are of such size that the outer surfaces of the catches are ush With the surfaces of the strips I5 and I6 when the catches are in place. The catches are provided with interlocking projections 25 and 25 with scarfed ends 2l and 28.

In carrying out the invention the scarfed parts 9 and I6 are provided at the corners extending about fifteen or twenty inches from the corners or farther where the widths of the walls or temperature changes are such that contraction and expansion is greater. The edges of the panels II and I2 that are to be in a corner have strips I5 and I6 attached thereto as by gluing the same in place to the outer surfaces of the panels with the catches Il and I8 extending beyond the edges of the panels. The projections 25 and 25 are interlocked whereupon the edges of the panels II and I2 are held securely in place as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3 so that they do not move with respect to each other even when extreme expansions and contractions take place.

It will be obvious that when the strips I5 and I6 are fastened together by the catches I1 and I8 they are securely and rigidly held together, and since these strips are secured to the panels I I and I2, these panels are held securely together so that when expansion and contraction takes place there is no relative displacement between the edges of the panels I I and I2 so that it is im` possible for openings or cracks to appear at the corner and the paint or Wall paper or such at the corner cannot be marred because of expansion and contraction of the panel.

It has been found to be advantageous to make the paneling Il and l2 of thin sheets or layers of Wood glued together with grain of alternating layers of Wood at right angles because this minimizes expansion and contraction to about one quarter to three-eighths of an inch per twelve feet of width of Wall so that the beveling 9 and I0 does not have to be very deep. The edges of the panels of plywood and portion between the edges are glued to the faces of the furring strips such as I and 8.

What is claimed is:

In a housing construction, a wall panel, a second Wall panel, cooperating catch means attached to each of said panels so that upon expansion and contraction of the panels, the edges of said panels will be able to move only as a unit,

Va frame comprising studs and sills supporting said panels, a portion of said sills, adjacent said panels, being scarfed from a corner of said frame for a short distance toward the adjacent corners whereby space will be provided between said sills and said panels for the edges of said panels to float.

GEORGE WILLIAM ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED -The following references are of record lli the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number VName Date 104,082 Turner June 7, 1870 746,199 Y Symes et al. Dec. 8, 1903 2,107,240 Eilertsen Feb. 1, 1938 2,302,962 Laucks et al Nov. 24, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 730,909 France May 23, 1932 

